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The latest Biotech News and Views |
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| Good morning! Biotech layoffs might grab headlines, but they pale in comparison to what's happening at Bayer. Two years after unveiling a sweeping cost-cutting plan aimed at saving €2 billion by 2026, the company has already trimmed over 12,000 jobs. Fortunately, CEO Bill Anderson, the mastermind of this corporate crash diet, says the cuts will be completed by year's end. We're hoping 2026 brings not just savings, but also a bit more stability for the teams that remain. |
| Enjoy today's read! |
| —Joachim E. |
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| SNAPSHOT |
| Nxera unveils GLP-1 ambitions as Pfizer, Novo and Terns cut programs |
 Photo: Diana Polekhina (Unsplash) |
| On the same day Pfizer, Novo Nordisk and Terns scrapped GLP-1 drugs, Nxera Pharma announced a bold new pipeline of seven obesity-focused therapies, headlined by a proprietary oral GLP-1 agonist. |
| Backstory: Nxera, formerly Sosei Heptares, helped pioneer GLP-1 receptor structure mapping and had co-developed the now-discontinued PF-06954522 with Pfizer. The candidate was pulled due to portfolio priorities, not safety, following Pfizer's prior GLP-1 setbacks tied to liver issues. Pfizer now relies on a single phase 2 GIPR antagonist and is exploring external opportunities to rebuild its position in the competitive obesity market. |
| Zoom in: Nxera’s new obesity program is independent of its prior collaborations with Pfizer and Eli Lilly. It includes GLP-1, GIP, Apelin, and Amylin receptor agonists, a GIP antagonist, and two undisclosed long-acting treatments. |
| Big picture: Pfizer is not the only big pharma to trim its obesity portfolio, as Novo Nordisk also dropped multiple obesity and metabolic disease drug candidates as part of a major pipeline overhaul linked to underwhelming obesity drug sales and executive departures. |
- Despite positive phase 2 weight-loss results, the GLP-1/GIP co-agonist NNC0519-0130 was discontinued due to “portfolio considerations,” alongside the CB1 receptor blocker INV-347, which was safe but had unfavorable pharmacokinetics.
- Additionally, the development of zalfermin for liver fibrosis was halted after limited efficacy. The drug ANGPTL3i for dyslipidemia was also shelved due to strategic reprioritization.
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| Not the only ones: Terns Pharmaceuticals also announced it will cease funding clinical development of its metabolic disease programs by the end of 2025, shifting focus to its oncology asset, TERN-701, for chronic myeloid leukemia. |
- The company plans to seek partners for its metabolic pipeline, which includes TERN-601, an oral GLP-1 receptor agonist in a phase 2 obesity trial, and two earlier-stage candidates: TERN-501 for NASH and the TERN-800 series targeting GIPR.
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| Yes, but: Citing the high costs and competitive landscape in obesity treatment, Terns believes larger pharmaceutical partners are better positioned to advance these programs through late-stage development and commercialization. Of course, this assumes that they stop abandoning their own pipelines first! |
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| SNIPPETS |
| What's happening in biotech today? |
| ���� Japan bound: Kaken Pharmaceutical has acquired the rights to develop and commercialize Astria Therapeutics' late-stage hereditary angioedema (HAE) drug, navenibart, in Japan through a deal worth up to $32 million, including a $16 million upfront payment and potential milestone payments. Navenibart, a monoclonal antibody that inhibits plasma kallikrein, showed up to a 92% reduction in HAE attacks in early trials and is currently in a phase 3 study. This partnership strengthens Kaken’s growing HAE portfolio, which includes recent acquisitions from KalVista and Alumis. |
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| �� Glioma first: The FDA has approved Jazz Pharmaceuticals' Modeyso (dordaviprone) for treating H3 K27M-mutant diffuse midline glioma with progressive disease post-therapy, marking the first systemic treatment for this aggressive brain cancer. The approval is based on data from five open-label U.S. trials involving 50 patients, showing a 22% overall response rate and a median response duration of 10.3 months. Modeyso was acquired through Jazz’s $935 million purchase of Chimerix. |
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| �� Debt avalanche: Facing over $1 billion in debt due by 2027 and uncertainty around its Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy Elevidys, Sarepta Therapeutics is evaluating a major restructuring, including a 36% workforce reduction and a strategic pivot from gene therapy to small-interfering RNA, aiming to cut annual expenses by $400 million starting in 2026. The company, burdened with $1.4 billion in long-term debt and $1.1 billion in manufacturing obligations through 2028, has warned it may need to restructure debt or raise capital. |
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| �� Organoid magic: Porosome Therapeutics has announced significant progress in Alzheimer's disease research, including FDA validation of its organoid-based studies and development of innovative therapies targeting Tau proteins and beta amyloid. The company introduces healthy porosomes, the cell's nanomachine for releasing molecules,into diseased neurons to restore neurotransmission and metabolic function, aiming to reverse disease progression rather than manage symptoms. Studies using human brain organoids showed rapid Tau reduction and reversal of Alzheimer’s pathology within two weeks. |
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| �� HBV hit: Precision BioSciences has reported encouraging early results from its clinical trial evaluating PBGENE-HBV, a gene editing therapy for chronic hepatitis B, with all three patients in the lowest dose cohort experiencing significant reductions in hepatitis B surface antigen. The therapy, targeting cccDNA and integrated viral DNA, showed no serious adverse events. The company is advancing to higher dose cohorts and expects its current funding to support development through Phase 2. Unfortunately, the company is also implementing an operating efficiency program involving staff layoffs and early research cuts to reduce costs, though details remain undisclosed. |
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| SNAP AGAIN |
| OpenAI's biotech protégé raises $70 million |
 Photo: BoliviaInteligente (Unsplash) |
| Chai Discovery raised $70 million in a funding round that values the AI drug discovery start-up at $550 million. |
| Why it matters: Chai's new AI model, Chai-2, is able to generate antibody "hits" at a nearly 20% rate compared to the standard 0.1%. The company hopes its AI could slash time and cost in drug discovery, transforming how new treatments are developed. |
Backstory:
- Chai was founded two years ago and raised $30M in seed funding from OpenAI, Thrive Capital, and Nitesh Banta in September 2024.
- Chai's first model, Chai-1, was already outperforming industry leaders like AlphaFold3 and ESM3 and was built in a few months by a team with experience from OpenAI, Meta, Stripe, and Google X.
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Zoom in:
- Backers of this new round include Menlo Ventures, DST Global Partners, Yosemite (Steve Jobs’ son’s oncology fund), Thrive Capital, and OpenAI.
- Chai is also adding former Pfizer CSO Mikael Dolsten to its board.
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| Big picture: Chai is part of a wave of biotech companies using AI to transform how drugs are discovered, competing with giants like Google DeepMind's Isomorphic Labs. Although AI has helped to identify some promising drug candidates, none have yet been approved, which highlights the long journey from discovery to market. |
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| SPEED READ |
| More news |
| Contineum Therapeutics has delayed two programs to prioritize a phase 2 trial of PIPE-791 in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, aiming to rival BMS despite trailing in development |
| BridgeBio's heart drug Attruby generated $71.5 million in Q2 U.S. sales amid growing prescriber uptake but missed investor expectations, causing a sharp drop in shares |
| Iovance Biotherapeutics has laid off under 20% of its workforce in a strategic restructuring aimed at extending its cash runway ahead of second quarter earnings |
| On a similar note (job cuts seem to be the theme today), Alltrna has laid off 12% of its staff to streamline operations while advancing its first engineered tRNA therapy for genetic liver diseases toward clinical trials |
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| TOUR OPERATOR |
| Upcoming events |
| ���� Boston, 27-29 August 2025 – 5th Oligonucleotides for CNS Summit |
| ���� Barcelona, 2-4 September 2025 – Advanced Therapies Europe 2025 |
| ���� Parsippany, 2-5 September 2025 – ChemOutsourcing 2025 |
| ���� Bangkok, 3-5 September 2025 – Bio Asia Pacific |
| ���� Hong Kong, 10-13 September 2025 – BioHK |
| ���� Paris, 15-17 September 2025 – Molecular Analysis for Precision Oncology Congress |
| ���� Boston, 15-18 September 2025 – Biotech Week Boston |
| ���� Dubai, 23-25 September 2025 – ArabLab |
| ���� Basel, 30 September-2 October 2025 – Festival of Biologics |
| ���� Rome, 23-24 March 2026 – Global Longevity Federation 2026 |
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| Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical or AZoNetwork. |
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